Telephone-call register.



W. G. BELL 1, W. H. VINTO. TELEPHONE GALL REGISTER.

' APPLICATION PILEJ? AUG. 28, 1912.

1,066,176. Patented July 1, 1913.

/a l SZ Wi@ j f7?, Ue Tof/0713: Miti/basses; I7 o I a @im ,071/

i 'UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM G. BELL, OF NEWTON, AND WILLIAM H. VINTO, F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS; SAID VIN'LO ASSIGNOR TO SAID BELL.

TELEPHONE-CALL REGISTER tively, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, and of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massal chusetts, have invented certain neviT and useful Improvements in Telephone-Call Registers, of which the following is a specifica- In the use of telephone instruments, it is frequent-ly desirable that the number of uses of the instrument shall be known, not only as to the total number of outward and inivard calls, but also to distinguish between the outward, inward, local, and long distance or toll calls.

The object of our present invention is to provide an improved mechanical de vice for registering telephone calls, said device'having means for independently showing the number of inward call's, the number oftoll or-long distance calls, and the numberl ot times .when the line is reported as busy, all in addition to registering the total number ofuses..A

'To these ends our invention consists' in; the construction and combination of parts substantially as hereinafter described andi claimed.

Of the accom anying drawings which.` form a part of t is speciiication: Figure 1 is a, front elevation of one form or embodiment of our invention, parts being broken out tol illustrate interior features of construction; Fig. 2 represents .a vertical section on i line -2-2 ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of' a modification; Fig. 4 repre` sents a fragmentary view of one ofthe parts voifithemodified form of' our invention shown Similar reference characters indicate the vention illustrated, a suitable base-10 is .provided, said base supporting a casing 11, having a front plate 12 which is preferably removably connected to the casing. The front plate ir provided with openings 13 to enable the counters presently described to be seen. Nithin the casing is a suitably held upright 14., said upright being secured to the back of the casing. Securedto said upright are counters 15. These'counters may be of the well-known Veeder type and Specification of Letters Patent. Application lfiled August A28, 1912. Serial No. -lfr Eatented July 1,1913.

Each counter has an actuating arm 16. lu the drawings We have illustrated tive of such counters, the lower one only being connected to be actuated every time the telephone is used either for an in-coming or out-going call. We do no-t .limit ourselves to the number of counters employed, but for ordinary purposes five counters in all, as lllustrated, are desirable. The four upper y do not needvt-o` be illustrated in detail.

counters are operated independently of the I lower one, by the person Who takes down the receiver of the telephone, the connectionsbeing 'such that handling of the telephone receiver Will -actuate the lower counter.v The arms 16 of the upper four counters project through slots 17 in the front plate 12 and are adapted to be moved independently by the operator to operate said counters. The arm 16 of the lower counter is connected by a link 170 with one arm of a bell crank lever 18 pivoted at 19 inthe casing, the other arm of said llever extending into a recess 20 in the base 10.

21 represents a movable platform having a stem 22 Which fits slidingly in a 'socket 23- rounds the stem 22 and hasA a recess 2 6- adapted to receive the movable platform 21.

The lever 18, vconnected as described'vvitlr the lower counter, is connected with the vplatform 21 by suitable means which cause aA depression of said platform to move the lever 18 in the direction required to operate the lower counter` bodiment of the invention here shown the lever 18 is connected With .the platform 21 'by a rod' 27, engaged With the lower arm of the lever 18 and located in the recess` 20, and a bell crank lever 2S pivoted at 29, and having one arm engaged .with the rod 2T, the other arm bearing yieldingly on the lower. end of the stem 22'.

Theiisual mechanism of each counter 15 includes a spring (not shown) adapted to return the shaft of the counter to its normal position after the arm 16 has been. movedI to a'tuate the counter, the arms of the several' counters being thus normally held in the positions shown by Fig. 2, and

rod 20 and lever 28 in the positionsshown In the 'preferredv emeluding both the transmitter and the receiver khung thereon, or the type of suchA instruments known as desk telephones. The platform 21, however, may be of course so dehcately balanced that it will be depressed to aetuate the lower counter, by the weight of the receiver only. In the case of atelephone instrument of the kind .known as a wall instrument, having the transmitter fixed, the device illustrated may be connected to the wall in such position that the receiver, when hung on its usual hook, will depress the platform 21. Practically, therefore, the plat` form becomes a support for a telephone, in the sense that it will at least support a portion of the weight thereof, and so that Whenever the telephone instrument is used, the platform 2l or its equivalent will be raised, thereby permitting the lower counter to be actuated.

The front of the plate 12 is preferablyT provided with words to correspond to the uses to which the respective counters are put, such as Inward, Outward, rloll calls, Line busy, and Total. The word lnwardmeans that the adjacent arm 16 is to be operated whenever the subscriber is called; the arm 16 adjacenty to-the word Outward will be used Whenever the subscriber puts in an ordinary call. The arm adjacent to the words Toll calls used when the subscriber puts in a toll call. The arm adjacent to the words Line busy is to be operated whenever the user, after putting in a call, is told that the line is busy. Of course, since each use of the telephone instrinnent for either an out-ward or inward call operates the lower counter, it is desirable to have means of knowing how many should be deducted from the total'shown by the lower counter in order to obtain the correct number when the telephone was really used, this being desirable because when the line is busy the subscriber is not to be charged with the use of the instrument, neither is he to be charged with inward calls. l

It Will now be seen that we have lu'ovided an instrument for keeping account. of all calls of the telephone instrument, our device providing means whereby the number of outward calls, chargeable to the subscriber, as well as the number of inward calls an'- swered by the subscriber, are automaticall)e registered, and all other calls andy usesot 4the instrument. may be manually registered,

"so that the subscriber can at any time distinguish between outward calls. and other calls not chargeable to him. .such a` inward calls and toll calls, and can deduct the liine busy uses. The subscriber can therefore obtain the total number of times that his own instrument is to be charged for, by deducting the sum of the numerals shown by the inward calls, Toll calls, and Line busy counters from the numeralsshown by the Total calls counter.

The support which is moved` by the weight .-of the telephone may be the ordinary pivoted hook 35 (Fig. 3) which supports and is depressed by the receiver ln this case, a lever 23a is substituted for the lever 2b', and has branches 23h which engage the hook 85 so that when the receiver is removed, one end of the lever 23a will be raised by the hook, and when the receiver is replaced the same end of the lever will be depressed by the weight of the receiver. These movements of the lever 23a operate the outward call counter and the inward call counter in the manner above described, the lever being pivot-ed and connected with the lever 1S.

The fixed platform 25 is adapted to sustain the movable platform 21 and its load, so that the movable platform 21 and the connections between it and the lower counter are not subjected to injurious strain when used with a desk telephone.

ln practice, the levers 1S and QS counterbalance each other, when connected by the' .maintaiiis the platform in a raised position when there is no load on the platform.

le claim: 1. A-telephone call register comprising a casing provided with an opening,'a counterv behind said opening for registering calls made, said casing having` additional openings, counters behind the last mentioned oilienings for registering iuninswei'ed calls, and the like, a lever fulerumed in said casing and operatively connected with the first mentioned counter, and a support for a tclephone element connectei'l with said lever.

L. telt-phone call register comprising a casing provided with an opening. a` counter behind said opening for registering' call made, said casingv having additional openings, counters behind the last mentioned openings tor registeringv unanswered calls. and the like, a lever fuIcrumed in said casing and operatively cimneetedwith the lirst mentioned counter, a yielding support for a telephone element. connected with lever. and a lixed support. adjacent to ',i'ielding support and adapted to sustain the latter and its load.'

i i' Copies of this patent may be obtained fo 3. An instrument of the character described comprising a base, an upright4 casing supported thereby, a counter 'supported by said casing, an operating arm' for said counter, `means for yieldingly maintaining said arm y1n a predetermined position, a-

pivoted operating lever having one end connected with said arm, a counterbalanced platform provided with a stem connected withv the other end of said lever, and a guide for said stem carried by said base.

4. An instrument of the characterv del scribed comprising a base, a casingsupported thereby, a counter supported by said casing, an operatingarm for saidfcounter,

means for yieldingly maintaining said arm in a predetermined normal position, a yield- ;ing platform movable in a guide on the base,

and counterbalanced connecting mechanism between the Said arm and platform, Where- .by the arm is caused to normally maintainv the' platform in a raised position.

, 5. An instrument of the character described. comprising a base, an upright casing supported thereby, a counter supported by said casing and having an arm yieldingly maintained in a predetermined normal position, a yielding platform, and counterbalanced connecting mechanism between the said arm andplatform comprising two bell-crank levers, one fulcrnmed in the casing and the other on the base, each "one lever with the counter arm, .platform provided With a stem the horizontal arm of the other lever, a

lever having a substantially horizontal arm and a substantially vertical arm, a link connecting the horizontal arm of one lever 3 with the counter arm, the yielding platform being provided with a stem bearing on the horizontal arm of the other lever and movable in a fixed guide,and a rod connecting the vertical arms of the tWo levers.

6. An instrument of'the character de-v scribed, comprisinga base,'a,n upright casing supported thereby, acounter supported fixed guide for said stem, a rod connecting the vertical arms ofthe two levers andl a fixed platform above 'the base adapted to support the yielding platform and itsload.

'ln testimony whereof -We have afiixed our signatures, in presence 0f two Witnesses.

' lVILLIAM Gr. BELL.

lVILLIAM H. VINTO. lVitnesses C. F. BROWN, G. L.' JOHNSON.

r five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

